music news from behind a pair of black frames…

R.A. The Rugged Man and….Baby?

Has the crazy lunatic legend R.A. The Rugged Man gone soft? The Rugged Man was once the most feared rapper in the industry…blackballed and banned from record label offices (including his own), recording studios, and performing in the United States. R.A.’s live shows play host to bloody and sweaty mosh pits, make-out sessions with fans, and other theatrics. Even in the 2010s, the Rugged Man made headlines for being removed from a commercial flight for wearing a t-shirt deemed offensive by the cabin crew. It is this attitude and grit that has made the raw didactic deliveries, honest songwriting, and gruff cadences so palpable to so many—deal or no deal, album or no album.

Now, the Long Island, New York veteran and hip-hop renegade has released his most unexpected video to date, the Father’s Day special “Bang Boogie”. Starring R.A.’s cute-enough-to-eat 4-month old daughter making her action debut, “Bang Boogie” finds the notoriously combative Rugged Man doing battle with his most challenging opponent yet: fatherhood. Here we find him changing diapers, carrying his infant on a harness, hitting the toy aisle, and spending his days at the playground, not the Times Square peep-shows. Whether dressing up in Star Wars costume, or trying to have a meal, the vid follows some of the challenges that parents can understand, with some quality R.A. characterization. Ladies, are your ovaries twitching yet?

Has the wild, filthy, Crustified Dibbs finally settled down and turned his life around? Will he stop tearing apart stages and start nurturing children? Only time will tell. For now, check out “Bang Boogie” to witness the evolution of an artist who will murder you lyrically while pushing a baby stroller.